


Catching Up

by Jixico



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Songfic, this is very self indulgent to my own interests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-05-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 21:28:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1663067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jixico/pseuds/Jixico
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Rose likes to catch up on the pop culture she’s missed while she’s been travelling with the Doctor. All without leaving the comfort of the Tardis, of course. <br/>Who would have thought that catching up would leave them caught up?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catching Up

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a reward to myself for finishing a godawful essay, so it's a bit cracky/self indulgent/entirely pointless. Also, an excuse to share the songs I associate with them. Except for mr brightside, I just figured rose would be into that. 
> 
> The songs featured are [Banana Pancakes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Graa_Vm5eA&feature=kp) by Jack Johnson, [Show Me The Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQXyVpJk5t0) by the Mystery Jets (not actually mentioned, but it's the song I intended), [Mr Brightside](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdGFtwCNBE) by The Killers, and [Cosmic Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfBY96qxVRQ) buy Florence and the Machine. The last song I'll keep for the end because ehhhh spoilers.

Some of their adventures felt longer than others.

Today’s, for instance, was one of the few that felt like it had taken days from her life, when in reality they couldn’t have possibly been outside the TARDIS’ welcoming blue doors for more than 3 hours.

As she watched the Doctor dart around the console, long arms pulling levers and punching in codes to tear them from the godforsaken planet they’d originally stopped at for some sight seeing, she ruminated on what it meant to be an outsider.

Those slender, pale creatures they had met there had been linked psychically to each other in an intricate network fostered by a being they called their great mother. She brought together the family of thousands, bound them into one living, breathing, peaceful whole. But their mother was dying, and neither she or the Doctor could help her. They were present for her last breath, there for the moment when she slipped away from her children, and there for the moment the psychic link snapped. The result was a reverberating wave of loneliness, loss, grief and fear as those suddenly separate minds reached blindly for each other, barging into any consciousness in their paths. The Doctor held her through her tears, told her they were seeking out the next in their number who would act as the great mother, that their intention wasn’t to cause pain, but their violent, grasping loneliness only made her lash out in anger as they harshly illuminated her disconnection from her own species.

It was only in retrospect that it occurred to her that the Doctor’s pain might be worse. There was no one left like him in the whole of the universe. But then, he might have been able to shield himself from their minds, what with his superior Time Lord physiology, or whatever bull he used to spout.

She shook her head in an effort to clear her thoughts. There was no way to tell now, with him distracted by the TARDIS. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to ask. The melancholy thoughts were already crawling back into her mind.

Perhaps the Doctor felt the same, for he began rattling off places they could go, things they could do, far far away from where they had been. Describing places that while beautiful, were a far cry from the looming dark blue trees and pink sky of their previous adventure. He listed them, waiting for her to pick something that caught her fancy. She knew nothing would.

‘No, Doctor...’

She needed rest, but she needed a distraction. She needed a change of scenery, but she didn’t want the danger that so often came with it. She wanted a taste of that belonging whose absence made her feel so fiercely sad.

He looked at her, eyes dark but gentle. Perhaps it she was projecting her emotions onto him, for they looked touched with sadness too.

‘Do you want to go home?’ He asked quietly. She barely heard him from her place leaning against the rail, understanding his question from the tone of his voice and the shape of his lips.

Hot tears pricked at her eyes, but she banished them with a shake of her head, a wipe of her hand and an only partially forced smile.

‘Actually Doctor, I was thinking I just need a little catch-up.’

The grin that transformed his face was infectious. A laugh bubbled past Rose’s sadness as she remembered their last catch up session. It had been a doozey.

For all his alienness, the Doctor seemed to be an expert on earth’s pop culture. The first time Rose offhandedly expressed her regrets of missing out on whatever interesting things would have been happening on earth while she was travelling, the Doctor roped her in for a movie night. They gasped with laughter over The Hangover, popcorn and tea in hand. The Doctor enjoyed Inception so much he promised to take Rose to the Oscars that Leonardo Dicaprio finally won. But it was Up that enthralled them both the most, Rose for its parallels in her own life, and the Doctor for how accurately they portrayed the dogs (“How did they know, Rose? How did they know that’s exactly what dogs sound like when you hook them up to a translation device?’). Their movie night turned into a movie day, and from there the one off treat turned into an occasional ritual. Rose never complained. Whenever she asked the Doctor gave her the perfect distraction. Catching up kept the nightmares at bay.

 

‘So what’s the plan then, Rose? Movies? Youtube?’ He waggled his eyebrows at her. ‘Memes? We never really did finish up last time.’

She snorted a laugh. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever really get the thing with the cat and the cheeseburger. No! Please don’t try and explain it to me again.’ She cut him off with a groan as he opened his mouth.

‘Okay, no memes,’ He agreed, cheeky grin plastered across his face. ‘What then?’

‘Music!’ She beamed.

‘Music?’

‘Yep!’ She teased, popping the p in his signature way. ‘You got any?

‘Do I have any music?’ He scoffed. ‘Rose, music is one of the main pillars of cultural development. Almost every intelligent culture in the universe has some sort of music at its heart, even a fair few of the unintelligent ones! And you think there’s even the slightest chance that I, a Time Lord, a member of one of the most culturally developed species in the universe, would not travel with music? To be quite honest, Rose Tyler, I’m a little bit offended.’ He sniffed, but the bright spark of humour in his eyes gave him away. His snooty demeanor instantly dissolved and he jumped to the console and began punching in numbers excitedly.

‘You are standing on the ship that owns, amongst a thousand other brilliant things, the largest itunes library in the galaxy. Well, any galaxy really. Well, any galaxy you could probably name. Well, any galaxy you could probably name, bar one. Music takes up a lot of memory! My old girl has better things to do than catalogue the 4026 Alkronan plaintive chants of eventide.’

He ran a hand fondly over her shining metal and the ship hummed a little. Whether it was in response to the Doctor’s button pressing or his fond words Rose didn’t know. The exact manner in which the ship was alive was still confusing to her in many ways.

He whirled to face her, looking expectant.

‘Okay, Rose Tyler, let’s find out what you’ve been missing out on.’

She waited. Nothing happened.

‘Doctor, I have no idea what’s going on. Is something supposed to be happening right now?’

The Doctor cleared his throat, looking a little bit embarrassed. His hand reached up to card through his hair.

‘I’ve, uh, limited her to playing only songs from the early 21st century, but I guess she doesn’t know where to start. Did you want to pick something?’

She waved her hands weakly at her sides. If the TARDIS didn’t know where to start, how was she supposed to know?

The Doctor only laughed good-naturedly at her discomfort.

‘Oh alright, I’ll go first. I’m thinking something to do with bananas, how about that? A banana is a great ice breaker at a party, Rose.’

‘Bananas?’ She giggled, partially in disbelief as a gentle but insistent rhythm of an acoustic guitar immediately started up from somewhere in the TARDIS. The sound quality was incredible, as if someone was in the room playing right next to them.

The Doctor bobbed, rolling his shoulders to the beat. The simple joy that was displayed so clearly on his face seeped into his muscles, and he looked strangely relaxed.

A smooth male voice began serenading them, clearly human. The Doctor mouthed the words, making Rose giggle. She still felt slightly uneasy though, and awkward to watch this often serious man dancing.

_Can’t you see that it’s just raining? There ain’t no need to go outside._

‘Hang on, this sounds kinda familiar.’ She mused, beginning to nod along in time.

‘Probably came out not long before I picked you up. The perfect place to start then!’ He said, extending his hand to her and waggling his fingers invitingly. She took it without hesitation, letting him pull her in closer, his other hand landing at her waist. They swayed together to the rhythm, the ernest lyrics filtering through her mind, melting away the stress that had built up in her body from their adventures. Every now and then the Doctor twirled her around, pulling unrestricted laughter from deep in her belly.

‘We got everything we need right here and everything we need is enough.’ The Doctor said in time with the music at one point, surprising her. From then she tried to join in on the bits that repeated. She fell into the beat easily, and began to feel her own worries wash away.

The song ended all too soon, and they broke apart with with a mock bow and curtsy.

‘Your turn.’ He said, tilting his chin up with a grin.

‘So I can ask her for anything?’

He nodded. ‘Doesn’t even have to be put into words, really. A thought, a feeling, you could probably ask her to find something from a memory if you really wanted. She’s very clever, my old girl.’ He uttered around a proud smile.

‘Maybe something British then?’

A more fast paced rock number started up and had them bopping along.

Rose thought that maybe she could get used to this.

 

***

‘Oh Rose! Have you heard Single Ladies?’ He asked after they were both beaded with sweat. Rose’s choices were so consistently upbeat it left them both little time to breathe.

‘What’s that?’ She panted, ending the question with a smile that poked through her teeth.

‘Oh, Rose, you have to listen to Single Ladies! Beyonce is fantastic.’

The hip-popping, sassy way he danced to that song was something she wouldn’t soon forget.

She imagined that had his past, leather-clad self been there, he would have been banging his head against the wall in sheer embarrassment. If anything that thought only made her enjoy the sight even more. She wished she had a camera.

If only the world did stop when the Doctor dances.

 

***

 

He left her to rock out on her own a few songs later, sitting with his legs dangling out the door of the TARDIS. A sparkling red and purple nebula shifted slowly beneath his feet while she danced around the console, belting out the lyrics to Mr Brightside.

‘This came out last year! Me and Shareen used to yell the words at each other whenever it came on the radio!’ She gasped between verses. He turned back to look at her, a smile at his mouth but his eyes unreadable. Her blonde hair glowed in the light from the TARDIS, her skin glistened with sweat. He turned back to the stars and waited out the end of the song.

She padded across the grate and down the stairs to join him, crossing her legs under her. She sighed at the beauty of the sight. She didn’t think she’d ever get tired of space. She couldn’t imagine the Doctor doing so either.

They sat in silence for a while, until Rose nudged him in the ribs with her elbow.

‘Your turn to pick a song, Doctor.’

He hummed while he thought.

‘Something about stars.’ He murmured. He smiled a little as the song started up, its tempo perfectly matching the mood.

‘You humans, so creative. You have a song for everything.’

 

_  
A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes._

_I screamed aloud as it tore through them and now it’s left me blind._

_The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out,_  
You left me in the dark.  
No dawn, no day, I’m always in this twilight,  
In the shadow of your heart. 

__

‘She has a strong voice.’ Rose murmured back, resting her head on his shoulder. ‘Pretty too.’

She tried not to linger too long on the lyrics. The moment was all too perfect to ruin it with unrequited emotions. She sat and let it all wash over her. The stars sparkled in a thousand brilliant hues of scarlet and mauve beneath their feet. The woman’s voice soared and fell, rich with feeling, the TARDIS’ gentle hum ever-present beyond the sound. And the Doctor, solid and warm next to her, beneath her head. Perfect.

Rose screwed her eyes shut as the woman’s words faded, trying to prolong the moment.

The universe, the song, the TARDIS, the Doctor. Perfect.

She filed it all away in her mind as she lifted her head from his shoulder. She missed the contact, but forced herself to keep the distance.

She glanced at him to see his eyes on her, his expression imperceptible. He quickly looked away and cleared his throat. What was he thinking?

‘Your turn again.’ He said to the stars.

An idea popped into her mind. She felt immediately like she should ignore it, but her beating heart made her bold.

‘Um, maybe play us something to suit the Doctor’s mood? Please.’ She added, still not sure how to talk to the TARDIS.

The Doctor stiffened as he heard her request. His eyes were wide.

‘No! I really don’t think, I mean- That’s not a good- R-rose-’ He stammered, but the music already began to play.

The beat of drums introduced a fast-paced electric guitar riff, emphasised by the call of backing vocals.

‘It doesn’t sound so bad,’ She said, confused, a slight crease in her brow. ‘Why are ya acting like I put ice down your shirt?’

The Doctor stared dead ahead into a dark part of space when the lead singer began crooning the first verse. He was still as stone, and revealed just as much. And so began the longest 4 minutes of the Doctor’s life.

__

_Sometimes I like to go uptown_

_Where flashy people flash around._

_It’s extortionate but I don’t care,_

_You can taste the pretence in the air!_

__

She laughed and was about to punch him good-naturedly in the shoulder when the next line stopped her in her tracks. Her heart beat hard in her chest and suddenly it was hard to breathe. Neither of them moved, just let the lyrics dig the Doctor further and further into a hole. With every word the his muscles tensed.

 

_  
And I wonder what you’ll wear tonight,_

_That shiny black dress with the slit at the thigh?  
Is it such fantasy that I should think_

_someone like you could love a creep like me?_

_Your body is a weapon, love,_

_And it makes me wanna cry._

_My body is a temple of doom,_

_Doomed not to be by your side._

__

The Doctor was a tightly coiled spring. At any moment Rose thought he might snap and just jump off the edge of the TARDIS and fall into space to top himself.

 

‘Um...’ Rose managed to gasp out before the next verse began.

__

_I like my job when I do it well._

_It’s freelance work and it pays like hell._

_But I could get us a place with one bedroom…_

_Who needs a friend when I’ve got you?_

_Your body is a weapon, love,_

_And it makes me wanna cry._

_My body is a temple of doom,_

_Doomed not to be by your side._

_And I don’t come here for the exclusivity_

_I just come here for the view_

_And the miniscule chance of some close proximity_

_Or an awkward conversation with you._

_Yeah, that’d be cool.  
_

 

The chorus repeated with a minor change, giving her brain a moment to catch up. The TARDIS must have gotten her request wrong. She must have asked it the wrong way. It had to be her fault because the Doctor couldn’t possibly feel this way. Somehow she knew that as soon as the song ended he would spring up to go tinker with the TARDIS to go find out exactly what went wrong. And the only reason he still sat there, unmoving and tightly wound, was because he didn’t want her to assume otherwise and make a fool of herself.

Or at least, that was what she thought until the next line hit them both like a hammer.

 

_Someone protect me from the one I love._

 

The Doctor outwardly flinched. Rose completely stopped breathing.

 

_Someone protect me from the one I love._

 

She looked at him, and though he had barely moved his eyes were now wide with panic.

 

S _omeone protect me from the one I, one I love._

 

The words repeated themselves over and over as if making sure neither of them misheard. Eventually the song faded out with a few plaintive chords from a keyboard, leaving them alone with only the TARDIS’ constant low hum and the eerie, awkward silence of space.

 

‘Rose, I...’ He started, breaking the silence momentarily. But his words didn’t go any further, he just swallowed hard and continued to stare rigidly out into the vast nothingness.

She tried to collect her thoughts together, to say the right thing. Instead, her mouth seemed to act on its own.

‘I don’t think you’re a creep.’ She murmured, and she startled herself with how loud it sounded.

He took a shuddering breath before he looked at her. His eyes were dark and sad, reflecting bright pinpricks of light from distant stars. There was something else in them too, something less masked than before. Could it be hunger?

‘I’m 48 times older than you. Of course I’m a creep, Rose.’

‘So the song is really,’ He gave a small nod before she could say the words, looking back out to space. ‘How you feel?’

‘I wanted to say it in a less...’ He swallowed thickly, gathering his words.  
‘Less sexual way that that, but you caught me off guard. And now it’s in the open, well, I can’t exactly take it back. But you deserve more than that, Rose. I’m sorry for...’ He made a vague gesture that she assumed meant ‘everything’.

‘I just want to make sure you know that I don’t feel so crass all the time and I still respect you and I would never want to hurt you but-’

She cupped his face in her hand, turned his head to face her. Pressed a fleeting kiss to his lips.

She looked at his stunned face. His lips, still parted slightly, stood guard against a shaky breath. They released no words.

‘I meant do you really love me?’ She whispered, her breath tingling across his skin.

‘Rose-’

‘Do you?’

His eyes searched hers. The darkness of space met honey and light.

‘Yes’ He breathed, already fearing that simple word, what it would do and what it meant.

She leaned in close, her lips ghosting across his.

‘Then that’s all that matters.’

The kiss burned through him. It drew from him his hunger. He tasted her to get his fill but it only made it worse. He reined himself in. He pulled away.

Her wicked smile made him give a nervous chuckle.

‘So you think my body’s a weapon huh?’ She teased, tongue poking through her smiling teeth. She looked up at him through her lashes. And- oh god, was that a wink?

Oh god. He didn’t think he was prepared for this.

Whatever this was.

**Author's Note:**

> Last song is [Your Body Is a Weapon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF6Jm_IHvNY) by the Wombats. 
> 
> Props to you if you read this. Seriously, that must have been an effort.


End file.
